Minna Forsström is responsible for a unique project: the first Russian-made nuclear power plant to be built in the E.U. outside of the former Soviet Union. In a personal interview with Energy Post, she reveals how her company, Fennovoima, has coped with extremely demanding regulatory challenges (“you can’t expect to submit a project and have it approved all in one go”), why they chose to work with Rosatom (“they have huge engineering capacity and … [Read more...]
A new energy bible: Samuele Furfari explains why technology is king
If you’re in the energy business, here is a new manual for you that lays out the essentials of what energy is and how it shapes geopolitics today. Professor and long-time European Commission official Samuele Furfari has condensed his 39 years of experience in the energy sector into a two-volume tome of more than 1,250 pages that goes right from the fundamentals of physics through Britain’s rule of the Middle East to modern day realities such as … [Read more...]
Politics and economics clash over Nord Stream 2
At a dinner debate in Brussels on European relations with Russia, members of the European Parliament made it clear they regard Russia as an enemy which should be opposed in any possible way. That includes projects such as Gazprom’s planned Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Whether EU institutions have the means to stop Nord Stream 2, remains to be seen. … [Read more...]
Energy Union requires concrete projects and protection of European interests
To deliver the Energy Union, the European Commission should promote concrete projects, such as equipping all European highways with charging points for electric vehicles. It should also act to protect workers and consumers who get hurt by the energy transition, protect European markets from dumping practices and turn Malta and Cyprus into 100% renewable energy islands, write Enrico Letta, Thomas Pellerin-Carlin and Jean-Arnold Vinois of the … [Read more...]
Who needs the Southern Gas Corridor?
In its dogged pursuit of the Southern Gas Corridor, the European Commission is shutting its eyes to the human rights record of the Azerbaijani regime, writes Anna Roggenbuck, policy officer at CEE Bankwatch Network. According to Roggenbuck, there is no justification for this massive gas pipeline project, since it is also bad for the climate and, as recent events show, will not even help reduce Europe’s dependency on Russian gas.  … [Read more...]
Donald Trump’s China First, Russia Second, America Third foreign policy
By letting his foreign policy be governed by a simplistic “America First” principle, Donald Trump is achieving the exact opposite of what he intends. His way of putting America First, is enabling China and Russia to position themselves as the paramount nations on the world stage, writes energy and foreign policy specialist Michael Klare. Courtesy of Tomdispatch. … [Read more...]
Wake-up call: production of Dutch small gas fields headed for collapse
Partly as a result of policy neglect, production from small gas fields in the Netherlands has dramatically declined in recent years, a fact that so far seems to have escaped public notice, writes Jilles van den Beukel. Dutch gas is effectively being replaced by Russian gas, he notes. According to Van den Beukel, this is not in the best interest of the Netherlands or of the EU, neither from a financial nor from an environmental point of view. He … [Read more...]
Gazprom plays ball: the depoliticization of the European gas market
Gazprom’s gas supplies to Europe and Turkey reached an all-time record in 2016. This might suggest Europe is becoming more dependent on Gazprom, but according to Danila Bochkarev, Senior Fellow at the EastWest Institute, the Russian company gained market share by playing by the rules of the market. The European gas market is finally becoming depoliticized. … [Read more...]
EU is losing the energy battle with Russia
Europe’s grand strategy to become less import dependent on Russian gas, which has been discussed since the 1990s, looks more and more like a failure, as the new Russian Tsar, Vladimir Putin, is consistently wrong-footing the leaders of the EU, writes Cyril Widdershoven. … [Read more...]
The Nordic countries on Nord Stream 2: between scepticism and neutrality
Sweden, Finland and Denmark are unlikely to block or slow down the procedures of issuing national approvals for the construction of Nord Stream 2, write Justyna Gotkowska and Piotr Szymaáą…ski of OSW, the Centre for Eastern Studies, in Poland. But according to the authors the Nordic countries do expect the European Commission to assess the compliance of Nord Stream 2 with the EU’s Third Energy Package. In addition, Stockholm and Copenhagen in … [Read more...]
Russia keeps expanding oil production despite low oil prices
Russian federal revenue from oil and natural gas production has declined significantly in response to low oil prices, reports the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). However, whereas western oil companies have slashed their spending, Russian oil and natural gas companies’ capital investment programs have been less affected, if at all. As a result, Russian oil production has hit a post-Soviet record high. Article courtesy of US EIA. … [Read more...]
Who is afraid of Nord Stream 2?
Nord Stream 2, the new gas pipeline that Gazprom is planning to build from Russia through the Baltic Sea to Germany, has been criticised for reducing Europe’s diversification of energy sources and energy security. But according to Energy Post’s editor in chief Karel Beckman, the EU should welcome the pipeline, despite deteriorating relations with Russia. According to Beckman, Nord Stream 2 has a sound economic rationale behind it and the EU’s … [Read more...]
The energy prescriptions of The Atlantic Council: “There’s a direction relation between climate change and geopolitics”
The implications of climate change targets not being met are massive migration, the potential for resource wars and “a further disintegrating of the international order”, according to Richard L. Morningstar, Founding Director and Chairman of the Global Energy Center and David Koranyi, Director of the Eurasian Energy Futures Initiative, both part of the Washington DC based think tank The Atlantic Council. Morningstar and Koranyi see a “direct … [Read more...]
Visions clash at World Energy Congress in Istanbul
The World Energy Council gave out a clear message at the World Energy Congress that took place this week in Istanbul: the world needs to move away from fossil fuels much faster than it is doing today. That contrasted sharply with the message given out by most of the high-level speakers from government and business at the Congress, who stressed that the world needs more oil and gas. Mohammad Barkindo, the new Secretary General of oil cartel OPEC … [Read more...]
What’s holding Russia back from ratifying the Paris Climate Agreement
Russia is now the largest greenhouse gas emitter not to have ratified the Paris Climate Agreement and it is unlikely to do so this year. The country is still deeply divided on climate policy, explains Angelina Davydova, Senior Lecturer at St Petersburg State University, in a fascinating article highlighting the forces in Russian society that are working against and in favour of the Paris Agreement. Courtesy of The Conversation. … [Read more...]
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